DeKALB – During the past two years, Northern Illinois football is 24-4.

The Huskies have won the Mid-American West each year, and won the conference championship title in 2012 while making a BCS bowl appearance in the process.

Last season started out great – NIU won its first 12 games and was boised to make a second consecutive BCS appearance, before the Huskies lost to Bowling Green in the MAC Championship game and suffered a second defeat against Utah State in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Despite the overall success the program has had recently, senior tailback Cameron Stingily still feels like the Huskies still need to show the rest of the college football world what the program is about.

"As a team, I feel everyone has something else to prove, 12-2 is a good sason but how it ended wasn't what we wanted," Stingily said during NIU's annual media day in DeKalb. "We've got to stop taking the MAC Championship for granted because we've been there so many times. Now we've got to go there and compete."

Stingily said the rough stretch at the end of last season stuck with him all throughout the offseason, which is coming to a halt. The Huskies open preseason practice 2:30 p.m. today at Huskie Stadium, and will hold 23 practices from today until Aug. 21. After that, preparation starts for the season opener against Presbyterian on Aug. 28.

"Going to [MAC] Media Day, seeing Bowling Green with their rings and walking around with their chest out knowing that they won the MAC, that was annoying, made me mad a little bit," Stingily said.
Carey said he hopes the team does something on the field about the "chip on the shouder."

"I hope they feel that way, that would be great," Carey said. "It's one thing to feel that way, it's another thing to act that way. We're about ready to get going with the acting, which is good."

Stingily said the fact he and the rest of the Huskies still have something to prove says a lot about where the program is at these days. NIU has won the MAC West every year since 2010.

"It shows that we're dedicated to winning," said Stingily, who ran for 1,119 yards in 2013. "You come here, you're definitely going to be in a position to win. Nothing's going to be given to you, you're going to be able to compete. If you're a competitor, you'll love it here."